When manufacturing or assembling an electronic component, if a tool used for manufacturing or assembling an electronic component is charged with a static electricity, foreign matter such as dust may stick to the electronic component, and a defective product may be produced, or the electronic components in the transfer process may attract and contact with each other, and may not be transferred smoothly. Accordingly, by using a static eliminator known as ionizer or ion generator, the electrostatically charged portions or components are treated by blowing an ionized air. To ionize the air by an electric energy, a high voltage is applied to a needle-like discharge electrode, a non-uniform electric field is generated around the discharge electrode, and a corona discharge is generated in the area of the non-uniform electric field, and the surrounding air is ionized by the corona discharge. When a positive high voltage is applied to the discharge electrode, electrons in the air near the electrode are absorbed, and the air becomes ions having a positive electric charge, or when a negative high voltage is applied, electrons are released, and the air becomes ions having a negative electric charge.
When an alternating-current high voltage is applied to the discharge electrode, the positive and the negative air ions are generated basically by the same quantity, and when they are blown to a charged object, the object rejects ions of same polarity, and absorbs ions of opposite polarity. Accordingly, the ions of opposite polarity contact with the object, and the charged amount decreases gradually, and the positive and the negative ions of same amount contact with each other, and thereby the object is balanced and neutralized at a low potential.
Such static eliminator is described, for example, in Patent Document 1, which relates to a so-called fan type, the air blown to the object by a fan is ionized by a discharge electrode.
Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2004-253192